@misc{9248771,
  abstract     = {{Plastic pollution in the natural environment is a growing concern, and due to its limited biodegradability, it continues to accumulate. Over time, plastics naturally break down into micro- and nanoplastics, which can be inhaled and ingested by humans. A significant share of these particles is a result of tire abrasion. These particles have been found in several human tissues, but knowledge of their effects on human immune cells remains limited. The palatine tonsils are located at the interface between the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts and serve as a good model for human exposure to these nanoplastics.

This study employs an ex vivo model to stimulate 300 μm precision-cut tonsil slices with tire-derived nanoplastics, aiming to evaluate their effects on T cells and dendritic cells. The slices are cultured for 72 hours, after which activation and phenotypic markers are analyzed via flow cytometry.

The results indicated that nanoplastics do not appear to alter T cell population frequencies. Nonetheless, there are signs that nanoplastics may enhance cell activation and promote a shift in T cell subtypes toward a lymphoid-homing phenotype. Because the dendritic cell count was very low, it was challenging to draw definitive conclusions about the treatment's impact on these cells, and additional donors would be necessary to obtain more reliable results.

A key challenge with the model was that the positive and negative controls exhibited similar activation levels, which would need to be addressed to achieve more reliable results where the treatment effects are more distinct.}},
  author       = {{Kvist, Hugo}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Immune effects of tire-derived nanoplastics in human lymphoid tissue: an ex vivo study}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}